Reply #10: To make students THINK [View All]

[tkmorris]

I thought this guy was an idiot when I first heard about this, but after thinking about it I have to admit that he at least got an awful lot of bored kids (and their parents) to actually think about free speech, Constitutional rights, and the limits that may (or may not) be necessary and desirable. Imagine how many conversations took place between those kids about whether such an act is actually speech, the expressing of thought, or whether it should be a prosecutable crime.

I think there is an inherent problem in being an educator. The best of them are almost always controversial in some fashion. They have to be, in order to provoke discussion and thought. Controversy however always results in angry parents assailing the principals and school boards.

I used to find myself getting upset by teachers who introduced religion or conservative politics into the class. Then I realized that it was these very classes my kids were getting the most out of, because they got emotionally involved. As long as their is some balance to the issues presented, I think it works.